Joe Burns: We’ve only just begun

Joe Burns

Wednesday

Dec 31, 2008 at 12:01 AMDec 31, 2008 at 6:26 AM

Calling 2008 a tough year would be understating the obvious. On the plus side, the year, which also included a presidential race of historic proportions, didn’t lack fodder for columnists. But the election is over, the Republicans who gave those of us in the liberal media conspiracy so much to write about are gone, and we wonder how we can carry on.

Calling 2008 a tough year would be understating the obvious.

On the plus side, the year, which also included a presidential race of historic proportions, didn’t lack fodder for columnists. But the election is over, the Republicans who gave those of us in the liberal media conspiracy so much to write about are gone, and we wonder how we can carry on.

Many of us already miss Mitt “Reversible” Romney, the party-hopping Hillary-ites for McCain, and of course the queen of the unqualified, Sarah Palin. But I have faith others will step forward and fill their shoes, and they won’t all be Republicans.

Before the year even began Democrats were already putting their worst foot forward with then state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson using federal currency like a teenage girl uses tissue paper. And of course there’s Gov. Rod “It’s Gonna Cost Ya” Blagojevich of Illinois, who could turn out to be a bigger crook than his Republican predecessor, which isn’t as easy as it sounds since that guy is serving six years for racketeering.

So far the investigation into Blagojovich’s attempts to sell Barack Obama’s Senate seat to the highest bidder hasn’t implicated the President-elect. And for the sake of the nation, let’s hope it remains that way. But you don’t have to be a crook to make good copy, and Obama, this columnist’s choice for president, has gotten the year off to a good start.

Obama, who doesn’t seem to fare too well in his choice of ministers, has created a stir by selecting Rev. Rick Warren to offer the opening prayer at the presidential inauguration. Warren, a highly influential Evangelical minister, is opposed to gay marriage, publicly supported the California proposition banning gay marriage and recently placed same-sex marriage in the same category as incest and pedophilia. He also compared abortion to the Holocaust. Warren is more mainstream than Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the Chicago minister who served as Obama’s spiritual leader until his inflammatory remarks regarding racism caused Obama to publicly denounce him. But Warren’s views are as offensive to some as were those expressed by Wright.

Obama has defended selecting Warren as part of his goal to build relationships with people of opposing views. But what of other opposing views on marriage that were once the law in this country?

Laws against interracial marriage, supported by arguments that such marriages were unnatural and against God's will, existed in 16 states in this country five years after Obama, the child of an interracial marriage, was born. It is unlikely Obama would invite a minister who has those views today to participate in the inauguration in order to build relationships, just as it is unlikely he will invite Wright or any others who share the reverend’s views.

For pure chutzpah, it’s hard to top James “Fingers” Marzilli, the former state senator who resigned after he was charged with groping women. Marzilli has now asked the state to double his pension. Incredible as this may sound, Marzilli is basing his request on a state law that apparently allows elected officials who are not yet 55 and have served more than 20 years to increase their pensions should they lose a reelection. Marzilli lost the recent election, and since he meets the definition of a loser in more ways than one, he seems to feel he should be paid for his failures – and the lunacy of it all is he can.

All of this and the year has only just begun. It looks like 2009 will be a lot of fun.

You can call Joe Burns at 508-375-4936 or e-mail him at jburns@cnc.com

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.